Windy City Report: 2016 Spring Art Exhibitions

As winter ebbs away, Chicagoans, and all those residing in four-season cities, are slowly unfurling from our offices and apartments, spending just a bit more time out in the fresh air. As winter disappears, there prevails a sense that everything is not quite as difficult as it seemed in January.

One of the best ways I’ve found to push through that fickle spring season is to check out the art shows and exhibits that Chicago is never short on, even if just for an hour or two each week. This spring, the Chi does not disappoint. From the outrageous and imaginative to the poignant and inquisitive, Chicago’s great museum institutions bring us much in the way of cultural offerings.

Below, we present a selection of exhibitions happening in Chicago this spring. But there are no doubt shows worth attending in all corners of the country. Becoming inspired is often easy to accomplish by seeing and experiencing how others around you are being inspired, and so we encourage you to seek out a show in your city!

Pop Art Design: The Street, the Store, and the Silver Screen – Museum of Contemporary Art

Open now through March 27

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Installation view, Pop Art Design, MCA Chicago, December 19, 2015–March 27, 2016. Photography: by Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

Here, time is of the essence; Chicagoans and city visitors alike have just one more week to visit Pop Art Design, a special exhibition organized by the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Pop Art Design leads museum goers past the surface of well-known Pop Art artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, down a rabbit hole of works that populate every aspect of daily life.

Installation view, Pop Art Design, MCA Chicago, December 19, 2015–March 27, 2016. Photography: by Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.
Installation view, Pop Art Design, MCA Chicago, December 19, 2015–March 27, 2016. Photography: by Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

“While we may think we know pop inside-out through the well-documented and widely discussed work of Andy Warhol and his peers, the spirit of pop not only manifested itself in Warhol’s paintings of Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s soup cans, it also influenced the look of chairs, sofas, lamps, and even architecture during the culturally ebullient 1960s and 1970s. Pop Art Design…pairs iconic design objects with artworks from this celebrated era to show the cross-pollination between these creative worlds. This glimpse outside the precincts of fine art museums and galleries reinforces the pervasiveness of pop as a cultural phenomenon during this period.

“Designers such as Charles Eames, George Nelson, Ettore Sottsass, Achille Castiglioni, Alexander Girard and Robert Venturi were just as enamored of the commercial buzz of Main Street as their fine art peers and equally embraced the banality of everyday objects, the vivid colors of advertising, and standardized fabrication at the heart of mass consumer products in the creation of their work. Their furniture, graphic design, and architecture exemplify the same pop spirit that swept the western world during this period, but have up until this point not received the attention they deserve.”

Installation view, Pop Art Design, MCA Chicago, December 19, 2015–March 27, 2016. Photography: by Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.
Installation view, Pop Art Design, MCA Chicago, December 19, 2015–March 27, 2016. Photography: by Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brick by Brick – Museum of Science and Industry

Opened March 10

Fallingwater residence, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania
Fallingwater residence, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania

Brick by Brick is a 7,000 square foot exhibit featuring a collection of more than a dozen giant LEGO®-built structures of engineering marvels, including a 60-foot-long Golden Gate Bridge, the International Space Station, St. Louis Gateway Arch, Hoover Dam, Roman Colosseum and others, constructed by LEGO® Certified Professional and Chicago native Adam Reed Tucker.

“At the essence of innovation, science and engineering is creativity, and the simple act of ‘play’ is its catalyst,” said Kurt Haunfelner, vice president of exhibits and collections at the Museum of Science and Industry, in the exhibit description. “This exhibit explores that close relationship, using a very relatable and much-loved toy, the LEGO brick.”

The Lego version of the Golden Gate Bridge
The Lego version of the Golden Gate Bridge

Mr. Tucker is one of 14 LEGO® Certified Professionals in the world – who knew such a thing existed! – and has partnered with The LEGO Group to create LEGO Architecture sets.

Inside the Brick by Brick exhibit, visitors can try out “hands-on building challenges that reinforce key principles of engineering, construction and architecture—and encourage creativity. Guests learn how architects and engineers push the limits of design, materials and location to make the seemingly impossible, possible; witness how form follows function; and learn how building beautifully uplifts us all.

“Guests will also see futuristic LEGO structures, constructed by global architecture firms, in response to predicted challenges our cities will face – including rising populations, climate change, water scarcity and more. Participating firms include SOM of Chicago, Adjaye Associates of London, Kengo Kuma and Associates of Tokyo, and others.”

If you’re an architect or designer keen to plant some skills early in your kids, Brick by Brick would be a good start!

The New Contemporary – Art Institute of Chicago

Opened December 2015 – New Permanent Exhibit

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Jasper Johns. Target, 1961. The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Edlis/Neeson Collection. © Jasper Johns/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

AIC unveiled The New Contemporary in December 2015, presented as the largest gift of art in the Art Institute’s 136-year history. The new collection features 44 iconic works by contemporary greats, including Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman, to name a few.

Jeff Koons. Bourgeois Bust – Jeff and Ilona, 1991. The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Edlis/Neeson Collection. © Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons. Bourgeois Bust – Jeff and Ilona, 1991. The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Edlis/Neeson Collection. © Jeff Koons

Donated by Chicago collectors Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson, the gift of paintings, sculptures and photographs is a big win for the city of Chicago; it will contribute significantly to the Art Institute’s presentation of contemporary art, and will provide the Midwest with a landing spot for people pining to set eyes on their favorite contemporary works.

Richard Prince. Untitled (cowboy), 1987. The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Edlis/Neeson Collection. © Richard Prince
Richard Prince. Untitled (cowboy), 1987. The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Edlis/Neeson Collection. © Richard Prince

“Their gift charts the course of the most adventurous art movements since the 1950s, primarily in the United States, beginning with the work of Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Cy Twombly, who began to forge a path out of Abstract Expressionism toward Pop Art with the use of images, materials, and techniques from mass media and found objects. Pop itself is represented in the gift by a landmark group of works by Andy Warhol—including two self-portraits—and signature works by Roy Lichtenstein. The collection also chronicles the significant and enduring influence of Pop Art on later generations of artists, including the virtuouso painter Gerhard Richter, the photography-based critiques of Richard Prince and Cindy Sherman, and the pop-culture riffs of Katharina Fritsch, Jeff Koons, and Takashi Murakami.

Tip: Check out the Pop Art Design exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art first for a crash course in the essence of Pop Art. Then, head over to the Art Institute to get a more complete sense of how Pop Art fits into the full context of the contemporary art movement.

Van Gogh’s Bedrooms – Art Institute of Chicago

February 14 – May 8

“Vincent van Gogh’s bedroom in Arles is arguably the most famous chambre in the history of art. It also held special significance for the artist, who created three distinct paintings of this intimate space from 1888 to 1889..

Vincent van Gogh. The Bedroom. 1889. The Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection.
Vincent van Gogh. The Bedroom. 1889. The Art Institute of Chicago, Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection.
Vincent van Gogh. The Bedroom, 1889. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, sold to national museums under the Treaty of Peace with Japan, 1959.
Vincent van Gogh. The Bedroom, 1889. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, sold to national museums under the Treaty of Peace with Japan, 1959.

This exhibition…brings together all three versions of The Bedroom for the first time in North America, offering a pioneering and in-depth study of their making and meaning to Van Gogh in his relentless quest for home.

“This exhibition is the first to truly delve into the fascinating history of these three paintings. Beginning with Van Gogh’s early canvases of cottages and birds’ nests, the show explores the artist’s use of the motif of home – as haven, creative chamber, and physical reality – and follows the evolution of this theme throughout his career.”

The exhibition features 36 works by the artist, including paintings, drawings and illustrated letters, as well as a selection of books and other ephemera known to have been in Van Gogh’s possession. Interactive presentations and a digitally enhanced reconstruction of the Van Gogh bedroom allow viewers to peer into the mind of Van Gogh, one of the most often-misunderstood painters of all time.

Even if you’re not the biggest Van Gogh fan out there, this exhibit is well worth the time.

Unfolded: Community Show on Paper – Chicago Design Museum

April 5 – July 30

2016.0321.ChiExhibits11.UnfoldedThe Chicago Design Museum will debut an exhibition on the significant role of paper in design that continues to pierce through an era of digital technology.

“Today’s designers, artists and architects rely heavily on paper-based materials in the development, communication and presentation of their ideas. Inspired by Container Corporation of America’s 1968 exhibition Made with Paper, Unfolded explores the unique properties of paper as a medium, as well as the diverse applications of paper as a means and an end in the work of contemporary designers and artists.”

Unfolded will highlight the work of the Chicago design community, but will also include contributions from around the world.

Standbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen – Chicago Cultural Center

February 6 – May 1

Animaris Umerus, Scheveningen beach, The Netherlands (2009). Courtesy of Theo Jansen. Photo by Loek van der Klis
Animaris Umerus, Scheveningen beach, The Netherlands (2009). Courtesy of Theo Jansen. Photo by Loek van der Klis

StrandBeest features the work of Theo Jansen, a man whose work is not easily categorized. Mr. Jansen’s “Strandbeests” – or “beach creatures” are distinctive kinetic creations that “blur the lines of art, engineering, science and performance.”

Native to the Netherlands, Mr. Jansen, who was born and grew up near the sea, began making “kinetic creatures” that can survive on their own in a beach habitat. By increasing the complexity and functional ability of the strandbeests throughout the past 25 years, Mr. Jansen has achieved an evolution of his work that even manifests itself in a maker movement.

“Theo creates Strandbeests from an inexpensive, widely available material he calls “artistic protein”: the plastic tubing used as a conduit for electrical wiring in Dutch buildings. The goal is survival. The beests have evolved dramatically over the years. They first learned to walk, and now have many mechanisms to keep them safe in storms and away from the rising tide.”

On view in the fourth floor Exhibit Hall and Sydney R. Yates Gallery of the Chicago Cultural Center, the StrandBeest exhibit includes several full-scale Strandbeests, accompanied by artist drawings, videos, daily demonstrations of the Strandbeests’ movements, and photography by Lena Herzog, who spent more than seven years documenting Mr. Jansen’s work.

Check out additional programming for StrandBeest here.

Present Standard – Chicago Cultural Center

January 30 – April 24

 

Present Standard exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center features the work of 25 contemporary artists with Latino Chicago connections that “play with the manifold meanings and forms suggested by the word “standard.”
Present Standard exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center features the work of 25 contemporary artists with Latino Chicago connections that “play with the manifold meanings and forms suggested by the word “standard.”

2016.0321.ChiExhibits14.PresentStandard2Nestled in a series of three gallery rooms on the first floor of the Chicago Cultural Center, Present Standard features 25 contemporary artists with Latino Chicago connections. Guest-curated by Edra Soto and Josue Pellot, the exhibition presents “works that play with the manifold meanings and forms suggested by the “standard” – as either a flag or a pennant, a measuring tactic or a guiding principle, or a potent symbol of national identity.”

The depth and breadth of subject matter and materials are what give this exhibition its legs, illuminating the broad scope of the Latino art scene in Chicago.

Check out additional programming for Present Standard here.

Chicago Architectural Biennial Installations (Chicago Cultural Center) & Lakefront Kiosks (Millennium Park)

October 3, 2015 – To remain on view throughout spring 2016

>Piranesi Circus (Atelier Bow-Wow – Tokyo, Japan); Atrium

>Chicago: How Do You See? (Norman Kelley – Chicago / New York City, U.S.); Michigan Avenue Façade

>Passage (SO-IL – New York City, U.S.); Ramp

Although the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial has closed, several installations will remain on view at the Chicago Cultural Center, including Passage by SO-IL of New York City, U.S. Photography: by Tom Harris
Although the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial has closed, several installations will remain on view at the Chicago Cultural Center, including Passage by SO-IL of New York City, U.S. Photography: by Tom Harris

In Passage (pictured), an installation extending over a high-traffic ramp at the Cultural Center, architecture and design firm SO-IL sought to reflect on the spatial qualities of a ramp, and its purpose as an inherently “ambiguous, in-between space.” On the wall above, a large scale, aerial image of the skyline spans the length of the ramp.

*Tip: If you’re having trouble locating the installations or kiosks, head to one of the Chicago Cultural Center’s help desks; each installation blends seamlessly into existing interiors of the Cultural Center, so they can be easy to miss if you don’t know what you’re looking for!

Across the street in Millennium Park, you’ll find an exhibit featuring “the winning entries of an international Lakefront Kiosk Competition plus work by architecture students at the Illinois Institute of Technology, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago.” (see photo gallery below).